Why It's So Important to Take Photos of Your Stove Before You Go on Vacation

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Prepping for a getaway requires careful planning — and it includes more than just a list of what to pack in your suitcase. Before you can officially step out the door and enter into vacation mode, there's an array of household chores you need to first check off: empty the garbage bins, turn off the lights, lock all the doors. And now, it's time to add another crucial task to your agenda as you leave behind suburbia for tropical bliss: Take pictures of your stove.

Yep, that's right. When you're overwhelmed with last minute preparations, it can be easy to forget if you've missed an important step. According to Lifehacker, this simple trick will remind you that you turned off all the burners and the oven before leaving the house — so that when you have a moment of panic 30,000 feet in the air, you can simply check your phone's photo library and rest easy.

The trick isn't only useful for your oven or stove, either. You can snap photos of your back door or air conditioner to ensure that all appliances were locked or left in the off position. Hey, you can even snap photos of the upstairs window so you won't worry that you left it open.

Leaving your stove on for hours is not only a waste of valuable energy but also a serious hazard to your home and its inhabitants. Objects left near the stove (such as a carelessly strewn kitchen towel) can catch fire and cause major damage to your home. Wandering pets may also feel the burn from a stove accidentally left on, especially if it contains exposed electric burners.

Needless to say, if there's an easy way to save us from imagining all the horrible scenarios that could ensue from a quick slip of the mind, we'll take it.